Dear True Blood Writers and Producers...

Dear True Blood writers & producers,

I get it. You don't like Southerners, Texans, Christians, Republicans, gun owners, the military, sparkly dresses on anyone except gay men, or apparently just plain ol' decent people. And you made it darn clear with last night's episode that you don't know jack sh** about any of it. 

So from this Southern, Christian, Republican, second amendment supporting, armed forces loving, don't-give-a-flying-you-know-what-if-someone's-gay, happy to live in Texas, proud to be an American, I'll wear sparkles if I want to, woman...

Young Republicans Reject Current Texas GOP Platform

I just started writing a few articles for Breitbart Texas, and my first byline appeared this afternoon. Check it out:

Article about equal pay rally cites two examples...of women who were paid equally!

Yesterday's Houston Chronicle included an article about women who were protesting for "National Equal Pay Day" and urging Texas lawmakers to pass equal pay legislation, an issue that seems to be the new favorite for Texas Democrats this election year:

Houston Chronicle | Public officials, advocates rally for equal pay for women

The fact that the 77 cent figure is complete nonsense is well-documented (if you made it here to my little corner of the internet, I assume you know how to Google. If not, check out here, here, here, here, and here, for starters.) but what I found hysterical about this article is the reporter was covering a group of people who traveled to Houston to protest for equal pay legislation, but couldn't find a single woman who really needed the protection of a new law.

My calendar is broken.

Help. I need someone to send me a new calendar. Mine is broken.

Today is CLEARLY not February 10th...it HAS to be April Fool's Day:

Chelsea Clinton to Deliver #SXSW Keynote, because...ummm...?

Jim Geraghty at National Review reports that Austin's famous annual South by Southwest Conference, a several week long "music, film, and interactive festival" has selected as the keynote speaker for this year none other than Chelsea Clinton:

One Year in Texas!

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of when I moved to Texas.

I started out the year with a bang, hanging out with Senator Ted Cruz at a Young Conservatives of Texas reception the very next night.

Lyrics: She's Got #WendyDavisLies

Some song lyrics inspired by Wendy Davis' latest little media snafu...

She's Got #WendyDavisLies

Set to the tune of "Bette Davis Eyes," by Kim Carnes

Her hair is Barbie gold
Her filibuster flies
Her heart is always cold
She’s got #WendyDavisLies
She’ll turn her sneakers on you
The media won’t question her twice
Fundraises in New York, oh
She’s got #WendyDavisLies

How to tell if your Texas friends are good at math

Simple test to see if your friends in Texas are good at math: anyone who says Wendy Davis "raised over $12 million" is NOT good at math.

Scott Turner, You Can't Run For President

At the opening lunch for the Texas Public Policy Foundation's annual Policy Orientation, the speech by State Representative Scott Turner (@ScottTurnerTX on Twitter) knocked it out of the park.

Google Hangout with @JohnCornyn today 12 pm CT

Later today, Texas Senator John Cornyn is hosting a Google Hangout, and I've been invited to participate.

Should be fun. The festivities kick off at 12 pm CT, and if you want to watch, click here to RSVP.

Liberals worried about cost of government regulations, LOL

We've spent the past few years watching conservatives argue that Obamacare would have disastrous effects on the health care system, in no small part because it imposes a massive regulatory burden on medical providers and insurance companies. Obama and his Democrat Congresscritters have discounted such concerns, characterizing this as a necessary sacrifice to provide health care to Americans.

We see a similar debate regarding environmental issues, where liberal environmentalists preach that the high cost of complying with an increasingly meddlesome and arbitrary EPA is a burden rightfully borne by those evil corporations. 

Now, after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed HB2 (Texas' new law restricting abortions after five months unless the life of the mother was at risk and requiring certain safety standards at clinics) to take effect, the media are reporting that "at least 12 Texas abortion clinics have been closed."

Isn't that just fascinating? I mean, not a single word in HB2 required any clinics to close, so what's happening here?

Clarence Thomas: "This country isn't perfect, but it’s perfectible"

Photo: @JusticeWillett

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke last night at a dinner during the Federalist Society's annual conference in Washington, D.C., and attendee David Lat has a great write-up at the Above the Law blog:

The real meaning of "pro-life"

There's a interview at National Review by Kathryn Jean Lopez and Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute that's a must read for any supporters of the pro-life cause. Read the whole thing, but I want to draw special attention to this quote:

Welcome to Chicago, Texas! Wait, huh?

Oh, the entertaining perils of using stock photography...

Texas Lieutenant Governor candidate Dan Patrick launched yet another little microsite attacking his Republican primary opponents, and here's a screenshot of the page:

Questions raised about tonight's straw poll in Harris County

Who's got the short straw? Depends
 on who's picking out the straws.

Coming up tonight: a "Take Back Harris County" rally in Houston, featuring many of the Republican candidates for statewide office as "special guests" and a straw poll.

I always find straw polls to be very interesting political games. I've said many times before that if you give me at least a week's notice and an adequate budget, that I can buy almost any straw poll in the country.

There are several important tricks to understanding straw polls:

Hooray for BOTH of my Senators!

So, the shutdown's over...at least this particular fight is over. We'll probably be right back here in a few months because they only managed a short agreement, but whatever. This image sums up what I, and I think many Americans, are thinking:

Hat tip: Twitchy

Anyway, in the various conservative corners of the internet, a lot of the most impassioned discussion has focused on the roles of certain Republican members of Congress and whether they were "sellouts," "unrealistic," "radical," "RINOs" or a million other unflattering descriptions. Far too much of this chatter was not only petty, it was unproductive or even destructive.

My friend Kathleen McKinley has written a very thoughtful piece for the Houston Chronicle today, focusing on the two Senators from the great state of Texas:

We fight, not because the odds are in our favor, but because we savor freedom

This week, I'm at the State Policy Network Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City, along with a large group of my Texas Public Policy Foundation colleagues. TPPF's Right on Crime initiative sponsored a dinner on Tuesday night, and I thought I'd share some excerpts from the closing remarks delivered by our TPPF President, Brooke Rollins.

Brooke's comments are especially meaningful in light of recent debates and battles we are having in Texas, in Washington, D.C., and in many states around the country.

L.A. Times stoops to new levels to find racism in Obamacare opposition

The L.A. Times is finding hidden racism in a conservative position? Must be a day ending in "Y."

In an op-ed published on Sunday titled "Obamacare: New fight, old tactics," author Nelson Lichtenstein explicitly states that "[o]pponents of the healthcare law are following in the footsteps of Southern segregationists half a century ago."

In Texas, even the Governor's pocket tweets are awesome

Engaging in social media can be a double-edged sword for politicians (Exhibit A: Former Senator Scott Brown's infamous "bqwhatevr" tweets).

Texas Governor Rick Perry sent out a very concise one-character tweet this afternoon...

#Texas Comptroller @SusanCombs at @RightOnline

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation is sponsoring two conferences in Orlando this week, the RightOnline Conference and the Defending the American Dream Summit.

I caught up with Texas Comptroller Susan Combs earlier this morning and we chatted about her efforts to increase transparency in the Texas budget. She has launched a website, TellTheTruthTexas.org, that has a lot of resources for citizens to research their own local government officials, learn more about the debt that your government owes, and ideas for taking action. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter at #TXTransparencyNow.

You can watch our conversation here: